The Swiss franc was little changed against the dollar early on Friday as the greenback remained near multi-year lows amid concerns over the US economic outlook and uncertainty ahead of the US Presidential elections next week.
The dollar last traded at 1.1999/05 francs, compared to levels around 1.1977/82 late on Thursday. The euro last changed hands at 1.5297/02 against 1.5283/87.
Domestically, the market will focus on Friday's release of the KOF leading indicator reading for October, due at 0930 GMT, which is expected to underscore forecasts that Swiss growth will flag in the first quarter of 2005 after peaking late this year.
The Swiss central bank has signalled that it is in no rush to raise borrowing costs for a third time this year when it next meets to discuss policy in mid-December, citing the softening Swiss growth outlook.
"It will be of particular interest to see whether and to what degree the Swiss industry can resist the most recent slowdown of economic growth rates internationally," UBS said in its daily markets briefing.
Economists in a Reuters poll expect the KOF to fall to 0.93 in October from 0.97 in September, reinforcing the belief that the SNB will leave borrowing costs unchanged in December.